Why startups think AI is antidote to poor diagnosis - Times of India

Radiologists, technicians and doctors are hard to find in small towns, so entrepreneurs are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to bridge the gap BENGALURU: As a researcher at Xerox Research Centre in Bengaluru, healthcare researcher Geetha Manjunath always wondered why thermal images weren't used to detect breast cancer. "I thought it would be a non-invasive, non-radiation and non-intrusive method," she says, adding that some women are reluctant to have regular mammograms. She spent three years doing her research and analysis and in 2016, co-founded Niramai, an artificial intelligence-based healthcare startup which uses thermal imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) to screen for breast cancer. Niramai has signed up a couple of hospitals for its subscription model. More than a billion diagnostic tests are done in India every year in thousands of small labs and centres, many without the right equipment.